Hokies Take Game 1 From FSU 6-3

In a game that lived up to its hype, the #4/#5 Virginia Tech softball team defeated the #2/#3 Florida State Seminoles 6-3 in 9 innings Friday night. The VT win saddled FSU ace Kathryn Sandercock (19-1) with her first loss of the year.

The contest had a bit of everything for the softball fan – dominate pitching, monster home runs, good defense, bad defense, multiple lead changes, and some remarkable resiliency from the Hokies.

Keely Rochard was her normal dominate self, limiting the Noles to 5 hits and striking out 14. Her defense let her down at times, allowing FSU to score two unearned runs, but in the end she earned another well-deserved victory to go to 15-2.

FSU struck first in the game, scoring two runs in the 4th inning, one on a double by Sydney Sherrill and a second one on a dropped fly ball.

The Hokies rebounded in the 5th inning, when Meredith Slaw blasted a two run shot over the left field fence to tie the score.

Slaw would give VT the lead in the 8th inning, hitting another bomb and it looked like it might be the difference in the game as FSU found themselves down to their last out in the bottom of the inning.

However, a ground ball that would have been the final out was thrown over the first baseman’s head and yet another errant throw allowed the batter to make it all the way home to tie the score.

That took the air out of the Hokies’ balloon and some teams would have packed it in. But not this orange and maroon group.

Instead of hanging their heads, the Hokies went back to work, retaking the lead in the next inning on a Darby Trull 2-run home run and adding an extra run on a pinch hit single by Addy Greene.

Rochard, who had thrown 148 pitches heading into the 9th inning, shut the door on the Seminoles in the bottom of the inning.

“I debated taking Keely out,” admitted VT Coach Pete D’Amour after the game, “but she was throwing well the whole game. I didn’t see her laboring at all.”

The VT Coach was also impressed by his team’s resiliency after letting FSU tie the game in the 8th.

“I think after the 8th, we just went back to playing in the moment,” said D’Amour. “We’ve been really good at that this year.”

Slaw’s two home runs practically doubled her dinger total for the year – she had three entering the contest. She also had a single and is now hitting .333 for the season.

“We had seen Sandercock last year,” Slaw told ESPN after the game. “I just went into the game with a plan and (executed).”

Trull shared the credit for her blast with Slaw. “I just got some tips from my teammates and talked to Meredith about what she saw,” said the Hokie senior.” I just took her approach and it worked.”

The three home runs marked the fifth time this season that the Hokies have hit three or more round trippers in a game and D’Amour admitted afterwards that was part of the plan.

“Hitting homers in games like this is imperative,” said the VT skipper. “We weren’t going to single them to death.”

Game two is set for Saturday at 1:00 with the series finale Sunday at noon.

“That was a good win,” said D’Amour, “but we have more work to do this weekend.”